Gas compressor and valve therefor



Dec. 27, 1955 K. K. COOPER 2,728,351

GAS COMPRESSOR AND VALVE THEREFOR Filed May 14, 1952 Fig. l.

Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

4/ i E j Inventor:

Kenneth K. Cooper,

His Attorney.

United rates Patet fiicc 2,728,351 GAS COMPRESSOR AND VALVE THEREFOR Kenneth K. Cooper, Fort Wayne, Ind., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application May 14, 1952, Serial No. 287,747

1 Claim. (Cl. 137516.15)

efficient valve operation and valve breakage and resulting shutdown periods. Some of the most eflicient valves are those comprising flexible valves or reeds, and various arrangements have been proposed to minimize breakage of these valves and to secure eflicient operation with minimum noise and wear. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved compressor construction including an arrangement of valves such that noise and breakage are reduced to a minimum.

F It is another object of this invention to provide an improved valve of the flexible reed type particularly suitable for reciprocating compressors.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In carrying out the objects of this invention, a compressor including a cylinder block and a compressor head having exhaust passages therein and a valve plate between the block and head is provided with annular valve seats and thin spring metal valves in the form of fiat rings engaging the annular valve seats and controlling the passage of gas through the intake and discharge ports of the compressor. The flexible ring valves are loosely mounted adjacent the valve plate, and their outer peripheries are restrained from any substantial bodily movement away from the plate, while a portion adjacent the inner periphery which acts as the port closing member is free to flex away from the plate in a conical form. To limit the flexing movement of the valve, conical backing members are provided which extend around the entire circumference of the valve area. The discharge valve is formed by providing a circular opening in the valve plate in which is mounted a disk spaced from the edge of the opening about its periphery and cooperating to provide an annular valve port. The disk is secured to the compressor head. The intake valve also comprises a continuous annular port and is connected with the intake of the compressor through a series of radial passages extending through the valve plate to its periphery, and the compressor head and block are provided with lateral flanges cooperating to form an annular muffling chamber about the valve plate, this chamher being closed by a perforated bafiie.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation view of a reciprocating compressor embodying the invention, and Figs. 2 and 3 are plan views illustrating the preferred forms of discharge and intake valves of the compressor of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, the compressor as illustrated comprises a cylinder block and a cylinder head 1 1 clamped together by suitable bolts or other devices (not shown) against a valve plate 12 which fits within circular seats 13 and 14 in the block and head respectively. The valve plate is spaced from the block and head by washers or annular spacing gaskets 15 and 16 respectively. The block'10 is provided with a cylinder having a liner 17 brazed or otherwise suitably secured within a cylinder bore 18 of the block, and a piston 19 is mounted for reciprocation within the cylinder, it being connected through a connecting rod 20 in the usual manner to a motor driven crank (not shown)., The remainder of the compressor, including the case and driving mechanism, is not shown as it is not necessary to an understanding of the present invention. The connecting rod 20 drives the piston in the usual manner through a wrist pin 21. The valve plate 12 is provided with ajcircular opening 22 concentric with the cylinder 17 and having-its lower end of the same diameter as the bore of the cylind'enits upper end being shown tapered slightly inwardly. An annular exhaust port 24 is formed within the opening 227by a circular disk 25 the outer periphery of which is spaced from the plate 12, thedisk being held rigidly in position by a threaded connecting member or bolt 26 fitted in a downwardly extendingcup-shaped member 27 forming a part of the compressor head 11, and secured by nut 28.

It will be noted that the top of the piston 19 is shaped to conform to the space about the disk 25 so that the piston fills this space when in its uppermost position; this assures minimum clearance volume and efficient operation.

The plate 12 is also provided with an annular intake port 29 opening into the cylinder by way of a conical recess 30 at the side of the cylinder and formed by chamfering the cylinder block about the upper end of the cylinder. The port 29 communicates with the outside of the compressor through a plurality of radial passages 31 opening about the periphery of the plate into an annular recess 32 of generally triangular cross section. The recess 32 is formed by laterally extending flanges 33 and 34 on the cylinder block and head respectively, these flanges having their facing surfaces diverging outwardly and terminating in shouldered recesses 35 and 36 respectively in which is mounted a band 37 for enclosing the recess 32. The band 37 is provided with a plurality of perforations 38 and the recess 32 therefore acts as a mufller or muflie box for the intake valves and minimizes the sound transmitted from the valves.

The discharge and intake ports 22 and 29 are closed by flexible ring valves and 41 respectively. These valves are constructed of spring material of thickness slightly less than that of the spacing members 15 and 16 so that the valves are free rather than clamped but are restrained against any substantial bodily movement away from the valve plate at their outer peripheries. The flexing movement of the intake valve 41 away from the port 29 is limited by the sloped wall of the cylinder block, which is shaped in conical form to provide a backing member 42, and the valve 41 is therefore free to flex conically between its position seated against the port 29 and a position against the backing member 42. A backing member 43 is provided for the discharge valve 40, and the discharge valve flexes conically in the same manner as the intake valve, its inner rim portion moving between its position against the valve plate 12 and a position against the backing member 43.

Although the valves may be made as plain rings, in the preferred form of the invention as illustrated both the discharge valve 40 and the intake valve 41 have their outer peripheries scalloped as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 respectively. This scalloping of the edges is desirable in order to reduce stiffness Of the valve and the stress in the valve for a given lift away from the valve seat. Furthermore, in

. Patented Dec. 27, 1955 the case of the discharge valve the scallops as indicated at 45 provide openings through which the gas may escape from the port 24 on both sides of the central portion of the valve, and the valve backing member {33 is provided with openings 46 registering with the scallo s to afiord passage of the compressed gas into the diseh r'geeliamber within the head 11. By roviding this additional area tor the discharge of gas it is possible to employ a lower lift of the valve and therefore a lower stress in the valve, thereby increasing the eifective life of the valve.

During operation it has been found that compressors provided with valves of this type are less noisy" than coinpressors with conve tional flexible or reed t pe valves and that the valves are longer lived than circular or disk flexible valves wherein the outer periphery moves away from the valve plate.

While the invention has been illustrated i connection with a s ecific type of eomp'ressor, other applications will readily be apparent to those skilled in the" art. It is not, therefore, desired that the invention be limited to the specific details illustrated, and it is intended by the appended claim to cover all modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent or the United States is:

A discharge valve assembly for u e in compressors and the like comprisin a valve member having a Hat face, said valve member having porting nleatls providing" an annular porting zone in said flat face of said member for the pitssage of gas through said valve member, a valve for eontrolling said porting means comprising a thin fiat ring flexible metal engaging said flat face of said member and of said valve ring and affording passages for discharge gas,'

said backing member at its portion nearest the outer rim of said fin'g being spaced from said valve seat a distance slightly reater than the thickness of said valve ring wherebyFhe outer scalloped edge portion of said ring is restrained against movement away from said face but is freely mounted to alford flexing of its inner portions about its outer rim and conically toward said backing member.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 345,673 Chase July 20, 10" 732,068 Haas who; a June 30, 1903 Nelson 8 1,310,722 Warnock l a. July 22, 191? 2,009,696 King "at. July 30, 1935 2,011,079 Replogle a; Aug. 13, 1935 2,140,328 Mozier Dec. 13, 1930 2,613,870 Borgerd l 0...: Oct. l4; 1952' 2,706,491 Kohler -a l. ..t- Apr. 19, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 

